Awareness is always with us. We don't need to create it or achieve it - we just need to recognize what's already there.

The five aggregates are not a theoretical model but a description of lived experience to be investigated through mindfulness.

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease.

The mind is like a room with many windows. Open them all and let the fresh air in.

Mindfulness means keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality.

The real purpose of Zen is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.

What Zen wants us to do is to acquire an entirely new point of view whereby to look into the mysteries of life and the secrets of nature.

In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.

The way to change others' minds is with affection, and not anger.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

Those who cling to perceptions and views wander the world offending people.

The practitioner and practice are like fire and wood. The more you practice, the more you burn.

The mind that notes and the object that is noted are both impermanent. Understanding this leads to liberation.

The quieter you become, the more you can hear.

Enlightenment is the realization that we were never really separate from one another or from all of life.

The mind of the past is ungraspable; the mind of the future is ungraspable; the mind of the present is ungraspable.

Life is nothing but a continuous chain of sensations. Pleasant or unpleasant, observe them objectively.

The first noble truth of the Buddha is that life contains suffering. The second noble truth is that the cause of suffering is craving.

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.

Genuine happiness comes from having developed basic human qualities, such as attention, emotional balance, and generosity.

Past thoughts are traceless, clear, and empty. Future thoughts are unborn and fresh. The present moment abides naturally and unconstructed.

Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control.

The Buddha's teaching is a middle way between all extremes, between eternalism and annihilationism, between self-indulgence and self-torture.

The basic teaching of Buddhism is the teaching of transiency, or change.

The six realms of existence are like a dream, why build a prison for yourself?

When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick. Every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower.

Look at situations from all angles, and you will become more open.

In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.

The supreme path is not to fabricate anything. The supreme meditation is not to be distracted.

One moment can change a day, one day can change a life, and one life can change the world.

The dharma is not about collecting more beliefs but about becoming free from the power of belief itself.